Hello, "Deer" Friend! :)

Hi out there in blog land!  I pray all is well with each and every one of you :)  We just returned from a quick trip to the Magic Kingdom which is always magical, fun and there was snow!!!  Well, as best as we can get here in Florida, rofl -- Main street was beautifully decorated for the holidays and has snow falling :)  It's definitely my favorite time of the year to visit Disney! And as of today, we have our 3rd December birthday girl under wraps - hee hee!  I'm officially baked, shopped, wrapped, gifted, finding creative places to move The Elf, birthday'd and concerted out!  And I still have to pack for the 8 day, 1,600 mile car trip - oh heaven help me. I asked my dh to just medicate me and wake me up when we get there, but he informed me that he's going to fill a jumbo thermos with Starbucks to keep me up to help him drive, lol! 

And I actually managed to make a card today!  While laundry is piling up for washing and packing, I squeezed in a few minutes to make a card for my Secret Sister in the 'hood exchange :)  She's truly a deer friend indeed, and I was excited to ink up this adorable Elzybells (LOVE!!!!) reindeer again with the matching sentiment.  I sooo miss this company :(  I made it pretty simple overall with one of my old card layouts and love this paper  - so rich and elegant. I do hope she likes it, as I sure love her!!  *muah!* :)

And I am SO SORRY that I haven't been to visit you!!  I try to visit a blog here or there while I'm out but on my phone it's impossible!  I'm off to see you today, though :)

And ............ drumroll please! ..... I know you are all probably wondering about the stamp giveaway ....... So without further delay, a random winner was chosen using the number my birthday girl gave me to chose and going back to count ........

DARLENE!!! 

 Congrats on your blog win - you are receiving a surprise in your stamp package to keep an eye in your mailbox - "Santa" is arriving early! :)

Thank you everyone for stopping by, for your love, your comments - as always, I wish everyone could win but I give candy away often so please be sure to stop by again :)

Blessings to you,

Big hugs!

~Kelly

Riley's Holiday Challenge & BLOG CANDY!

Happy Tuesday!!  It's time for another bi-weekly challenge at the Riley and Co blog  This week, our hostess is DT member Joy, who asked us to create a holiday card using a Riley/Sophie stamp - easy breazy!  There are so many fun and wonderful winter/Christmas stamps at the Riley and Co store, especially with the fabby new release we just had - my head is still spinning! :)

My card today is using sledding Riley, one of the activities I hope that we'll be able to do this Christmas :)  I've never wished for anything so hard that I can remember but hopefully the upcoming travels will include a little (or a lot!) of it - what bliss!

And since it's the holidays, how about a little candy?  Today's post has a FREE Riley stamp giveaway from Me to one of you!  It's not a hop, not a R and C stamp giveaway, just one that I bought with my lil 'ol money as a giveaway so all you have to do is leave a comment below so I know where to find you when a random.org name is drawn - woot woot!  Inside the stocking (which is plain for now!) is an UM Riley stamp and I won't show you just yet which one it is *wink!*

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Thankful for Mud Puddle Pies :)

Hiya friends!  Whew, what a month it's been so far - nonstop fun, events, activites, birthdays, getting ready for our trip,  running around and not much room to craft!  But lucky me, I was able to sneak in a bit of craft time today to make another birthday card for my sweetie :)  She was actually due on Christmas day.  I remember thinking "Oh Please Be Early!" - I didn't want to be delivering her when her 2 year old sister was at home waiting on Santa Clause :/  She must have heard/felt my wishes and arrived early, and I was discharged just before Christmas Eve - whew! 

My son actually found this cute pail for making Mud Puddle Pie and I thought it was the cutest ever.  She's the sister that does exactly this with him outside ~ they play for hours in the sandbox and outside turning the Little Tykes kitchen, playhouse and forts into a bakery of sorts!  She carts off all my old pots and pans, soda bottles for mixing, bowls and spoons and what not and everything from sticks to rocks to shards of grass would become entire make belief buffets :) 

I paired her pail (it came wrapped in plastic, I unwrapped it for a photo op) with similiar colored cardstock to make her a Riley birthday card - always fun and festive!  I used some Pebble paper scraps that I had in my bin and colored it with prismas to match the colors pulled from the paper.  The balloons are propped up for some 3d effects and I added a handmade flower from my huge prima stash topped off with a multi colored button display.  Of course, I have no idea what this recipe for Mud Puddle Pie is or what it will taste like - and chances are we won't make it until we get back from our trip, but I'll be sure to post a review and photos when they make it!   Not so sure those gummy frogs are going to do much for me, LOL, but the merriment should be in the making! :)

Big hugs,

Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Happy Birthday!!

I'm just way too tired to think of a witty title :)   Busy time of year for me, Ye Mom of THREE December birthday daughters, has been given an even more busier schedule than usual!  But I am reminded daily of all the blessings being busy brings, so no complaints!  Sleep would be good though, lol!  

For this month swap in the 'hood (otherwise lovingly known as the S.O.T.C on SCS - that's a tongue twister right there!), our lovely hostess Maryann asked us to create a girl birthday card in honor of her g'daughter's birthday and with a twist!  That's right ... a twist - any twist!  twisted ribbon, twisted flowers ...... I was so caught up in festivities and rushed my cards to the deadline so my idea fell to the side and I went with twisted TWINE .... original and creative I am not this month, hee hee!

Using this adorable PI bday girl, I just paired it with some SU papers and cardstock, run through the CB swiss dots - YEP!!  Same one you might have seen me put an APB out on on Facebook.  After these were mailed off, I needed it again and looked ALL afternoon - until I picked up a mat stack off the floor and there it was, under that.  How it got THERE ... not a clue but stranger things have happened in my scraproom!  ;)

My dd's have their concert #2 of 3 in about an hour and they brought two extra kiddos over and they are all getting ready.  5 girls in one room.  Can we say big time fun! :)

Big love, big hugs

and Bigger Blessings!
~Kelly

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

Hello!   Right about now, I soooooo wish I were back in Germany - the wonders of the season ... the snow ... the Christmas markets ... the snow ... the cathedrals celebrating the Savior's birth ... the snow! :)  I am mailing a package to my brother for the holidays and wanted to put in a small Christmas tag, and ended up with a card somehow :)  Although he's a typical guy and not into cards, I still wanted to personalize it just a bit with a "guy" image and knew I wanted to ink up my lonely CC Designs "Hansel with Lederhosen!"  He's too cute!  I also knew I wanted to use non traditional colors just a bit and pulled from the blue and orange in the papers.  I doubt he will even notice that Hansel doesn't have a mouth, ROFL!!

Wishing you a most wonderful weekend!  We are starting the holiday shows with our daughters and their schools - several performances this weekend, combined with a birthday celebration.  The busy-ness has officially begun!

    Blessings to you!

   Big hugs,

~Kelly